The Tampa Bay Rays visit the New York Yankees fresh off the all-star break.
The pregame narrative: The Yankees came out blazing hot to start the season but cooled off heading into the break. Tonight, however, I am backing two of New York's stars to dominate against Zach Eflin and the Rays.
Check out the best Rays vs. Yankees props on July 19.
Rays vs. Yankees props
Go to full Rays/Yankees MLB betting markets.
Best Bet: Juan Soto over 1.5 bases (+138)
Soto's first season with the Yanks has lived up to the hype. He's slashing .295/.426/.558 with 23 home runs and 66 RBI.
He's successful against most pitchers, but Eflin is someone he especially likes to face.
Soto has 14 hits in 31 at-bats (.452 average) against the Rays starter with three doubles and two homers. Just before the all-star break, Soto had two hits in a game that Eflin started.
I mean, it isn't talked about enough but the 25-year-old may already be the best hitter in baseball. Here are some of his batted-ball metrics as measured by Baseball Savant:
- Average exit velocity: 94.8 mph (99th percentile)
- Barrel rate: 18.8% (99th percentile)
- Hard hit rate: 57.6% (99th percentile)
That is just the beginning, but I chose those stats to highlight the fact that when he makes contact with the ball, he often tattoos it.
Even though we can't predict exactly where a ball will land, hitting it as hard as anyone in the league is a good starting point for Soto.
Key stat: Soto has cleared this line in four of his last five games.
Quick picks
Gerrit Cole over 7.5 strikeouts (+132): Cole is still not that far removed from a lengthy injured list stint, but there's reason to believe he's back to playing at a high level.
The reigning AL Cy Young winner currently owns a 5.40 ERA, but he's held two of his past three opponents to one run or less.
Yes, one of those teams was the inconsistent Toronto Blue Jays, but his most recent start was against the dangerous Baltimore Orioles. In that outing, Cole allowed just one earned run on five hits over 6.0 innings.
The Rays whiff more than most teams, recording the seventh-most strikeouts per game (8.98). And they haven't had much success against Cole in the past, either.
In 193 at-bats, the Rays' current lineup is hitting .207 and has more strikeouts (62) than hits (40).
Picks made at 11:30 a.m. on 07/19/24.
